Urayuli, or "Hairy Men", are a

Cryptid Cryptids are animals that cryptozoologists believe may exist somewhere in the wild, but are not believed to exist by mainstream science. Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience, which primarily looks at anecdotal stories, and other claims rejected by ...

race (similar to

Bigfoot Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a purported ape-like creature said to inhabit the forest of North America. Many dubious articles have been offered in attempts to prove the existence of Bigfoot, including anecdotal claims o ...

Yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. is an ape-like creature purported t ...

) of creatures that live in the woodland areas of southwestern

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. Stories of the Urayuli describe them as standing 10 feet tall with long shaggy fur and luminescent eyes. They are said to emit a high-pitched cry, resembling that of a

loon Loons (North American English) or divers (British / Irish English) are a group of aquatic birds found in much of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus ''Gavia'', family Gaviidae and order Gavi ...

. Their long, lanky arms have been described as reaching down to their ankles. Rumored to live in the forests near the area of

Lake Iliamna Iliamna Lake or Lake Iliamna (Yup'ik: ''Nanvarpak''; Dena'ina Athabascan: ''Nila Vena'') is a lake in southwest Alaska, at the north end of the Alaska Peninsula, between Kvichak Bay and Cook Inlet, about west of Seldovia, Alaska. It shares a na ...

, the Urayuli are said to be peaceful creatures, unlike the

Kushtaka Kushtaka or Kooshdakhaa ( lit. "land otter man") are mythical shape-shifting creatures found in the folklore of the Tlingit peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Description They are similar to the 'Watsa of the Ts'msyen pe ...

of Southeastern Alaska. It is said the Urayuli are transformed children who become lost in the woods at night. It is possible that this tale was started to keep children indoors at night.

References

Legendary creatures of the indigenous peoples of North America Forest spirits {{NorthAm-myth-stub